Good coffee is hard to find. I'm on a mission to make it easier. I started in Korea, moved to Sweden, and now I'm in New York, hunting for the best, and sharing the journey with you here.
Send me a tip, feel free to share your own experiences or questions in the comments, and above all, drink better coffee! :)

When I lived in Korea I tried to find all the cafes in Seoul that were focused on high quality coffee (you can find all of them on my global cafe map), but in the process I visited a bunch that were less than stellar. However, even the least palatable coffees in Korea are often...

Below you’ll find a list of the best quality focused cafes that have opened in Seoul since 2010. For great cafes opened before 2010, check out my other reviews of Korean cafes. I moved from Korea to Sweden back in the summer of 2010, and that unfortunately marked the end of my coverage of Korea’s...

A lot of coffee drinkers stumble upon Illy in their initial quests for better coffee. It’s hard to miss their shiny silver and red packaging in the supermarket or at the cafes serving their coffee. Established in the 1930s, Illy is family owned and known for pursuing scientific coffee research, and creating standards for brewing...

Belief is a relatively new cafe that I first visited many months ago in the Hongdae neighborhood of Seoul, Korea. When I stopped in the first time they were just setting things up, didn’t have an espresso machine installed, and were still apparently adjusting their roast profiles. I stopped in again a couple months ago...

UPDATE: La Caffe’s owner writes in the comments below: “Big thanks to all our lovely customers. LaCaffe currently closed. We are renovating to cafe related business workshop, not cafe. See you soon with big news.” La Caffe is a restaurant and cafe hidden away in the neighborhood near Wangsimni station. I heard that they had...

MK2 is a cool looking spot in the neighborhood to the west of Gyeongbokgung palace. The decor is made up of mostly mid-century modern furniture, and they have a Faema E61 espresso machine on which they churn out a pretty decent espresso. It seems like a really chilled out place to relax and study, do...

Korea Telecom has built quite a nice little cafe in their first floor show room, amid all the office buildings and historical attractions at Gwanghwamun station near Gyeongbokgung palace. One would expect that a cafe in an electronics showroom would be little more than a gimmick to draw in more potential customers, but I was...

Dalmont is a nice looking cafe and restaurant next to Hakdong station. I’ve lived right around the corner from it for the past year and popped in many times for one of their tasty shrimp or salami sandwiches. Their coffee has been hit or miss for me in the past with an amazing double ristretto...

My friend Sammie showed me the way to this cafe out near Sookmyung Women’s University. It’s a nice looking cafe, with a spacious and eclectic interior full of National Geographic style photography (the theme is Madagascar after all), photo gear, photo books, and random curios. I guess the owner is a photographer who visited Madagascar...

I’ve been keeping an eye out for good coffee on the northeast side of Seoul, but so far I’d only been able to find Star City’s Star Kitchen and Lotte Mall’s Cantata kiosk, which are above average, but nothing to go out of your way for. Then I came across a post at Jihye Chang’s...

Dallmayr is a German coffee company that has several cafes in Seoul. I tried visiting their Gangnam location, but it’s either out of business or being renovated. Their Nambu Terminal location is open, however, and it’s unique and quirky, even by Korean standards. With its operatic sound track, dark interior and antique accoutrements, it’s not...

Coffeelab is a quirky specialty cafe located in Hongdae and run by Bang Jong Koo. I’ve only been there twice – the first time just long enough to drop in and try a single espresso. I finally made it back this weekend. Click below for my thoughts and photos. Click here to continue reading!